Acas Early Conciliation 





The first step in all employment tribunal claims is to submit an Acas Early Conciliation (EC) Notification Form. The only type of claim that is exempt from Acas EC is an application for interim relief (see Chapter 5). Acas EC is free. There is lots of information about how it works on the Acas website. Apart from a claim for interim relief, no claim can be heard by the tribunal without an Acas EC Certificate Number, issued by Acas once the Acas EC process is completed. 



The purpose of Acas EC is to provide a structured opportunity to explore conciliation before litigation is launched (De Mota v ADR Network & Another [2017] UKEAT/0305/16/DA). In general, the EAT has tried to deter employers from making technical challenges to tribunal claims based on breaches of the Acas EC procedure, warning that the new system must not create extra layers of unnecessary litigation or act as an additional barrier to justice. It is very important to follow the Acas EC rules exactly, to avoid a costly tribunal challenge. 



Acas EC is initiated by a potential claimant, who completes an Acas EC Notification Form, available from the Acas website. Having taken this compulsory first step, the potential claimant can then choose whether to actively participate in the EC process. So can the employer.




The Form must be submitted to Acas within the normal time limit for bringing a tribunal claim (usually three months). Help completing the Form is available from the Acas Helpline: 0300 123 1100. It can be submitted online or by post. It must be submitted by the potential claimant, who can choose to include the contact details of a representative, such as their union rep or solicitor. Where a union member includes these details, Acas will contact the rep directly instead of the member. 



The Form should be completed carefully to avoid any risk of it being rejected. A mistake can result in the claim being dismissed, and if the time limit for bringing the claim has expired, the claimant can lose their chance to enforce their rights. Although tribunals can decide to extend time to bring a claim, extensions are rare.





The Form asks for basic details, including names and contact details for the parties. It does not ask for information about the dispute. The aim is to enable Acas to correctly identify and contact the employer. Acas can reject a Form if it thinks the information is inadequate. It is important to be accurate when naming the employer.

If there is more than one respondent (for example, a discrimination claim against an employer and a manager), a separate Acas EC Notification Form must be completed for each respondent, each submitted within the time limit. It is sensible to submit them all on the same day if possible.

Acas promises to make first contact (by telephone) with a prospective claimant within one working day and to allocate the claim to a named conciliator who will try to resolve the dispute through telephone calls to each side.





Acas’s role is that of an impartial conciliator. It is not to advise claimants as to whether a settlement offer fairly values their claim. If in doubt, potential claimants should check with their solicitor or union rep before agreeing to a settlement. Acas settlements, once reached, are binding and cannot be undone. 





Acas has four weeks to try to achieve a settlement through EC. The conciliator can extend this period by a further two weeks if there is reasonable prospect of a settlement and both parties agree. For more information, see the Acas guide: Early conciliation explained. If a final settlement is reached, Acas records it as a COT3 Settlement Agreement (see page 488). 





At the end of the EC period, if no settlement has been reached Acas will issue the potential claimant with an Acas EC certificate to show that conciliation was considered. It has a reference number, without which it is not possible to issue a tribunal claim. Where an email address has been provided, Acas will use this to send the Acas EC certificate. Take care to make sure the address is correct, and check the junk mail box. If no email address has been provided, the certificate will be sent by post. 





After a tribunal claim has been issued, Acas remains under a continuing statutory duty under its long-established conciliation service to help the parties settle their dispute, until the claim comes to an end. 





Acas EC is a "pre-claim" conciliation process. Its purpose is to try to avoid the need for a tribunal claim. Once a claim has been issued, any future management of the claim is a matter for the employment tribunal service and the tribunal judge, not Acas. For this reason, once a claim has been issued, there is no need to submit a fresh Acas EC Notification Form to change a respondent, add extra respondents (Drake International Systems Limited v Blue Arrow [2015] UKEAT/0282/15/DM), or add extra claims (Science Warehouse Limited v Mills [2015] UKEAT/224/15). The EAT has said that any other approach would result in unnecessary litigation, empty formality and a waste of Acas resources and would act as a barrier to justice.




The same Acas EC certificate will cover new claims that arise after the Acas EC Notification Form has been submitted, as long as the incidents giving rise to the new claims “relate” in some way to the original dispute. This reflects the reality that employment disputes often evolve over time. It would make no sense for a claimant to have to apply for a fresh Acas EC certificate for every twist and turn in their dispute:


http://m.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/7/c/Conciliation-Explained-Acas.pdf